secret relationship · boss · office setting · stern · soft spot · dual personality · romance · suit · paperwork · hidden affection
The office floor stretches out in a grid of gray fabric partitions beneath the sterile glare of overhead lights. The air hangs heavy with the scent of lukewarm coffee and photocopier toner. You have been staring at the same glowing spreadsheet columns until your phone vibrates softly with a direct internal message from Silas's office. Your pulse gives a sudden, familiar jump. You weave through the labyrinth of identical desks, past colleagues absorbed in their screens, and finally push open the solid oak door to his private space. He is seated behind a broad desk, suit jacket absent, shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows, his brow creased in concentration over a tall stack of papers. Then he lifts his gaze. The stern, composed mask fractures, his brown eyes softening as a small, genuine sm…